Marionville, 232 Marionville Road, Edinburgh

This is a mid-18th century classical villa, located at 232 Marionville Road, Edinburgh, with substantial internal alterations carried out by Reginald Fairlie & Partners in 1958-59. The house has a basement, cellar, attic, and two main floors, arranged over five bays. It is constructed from squared and coursed sandstone, with rubble to the sides and rear. The eaves are supported by brackets. A large, asymmetrically placed dormer window is a prominent feature.

The north (principal) elevation presents a symmetrical facade. At basement level, there is a central entrance door with a plain three-light panel above, set within a dressed stone surround. The windows are 12-pane sash windows, each with a dressed, architraved surround. A bowed staircase leads to a central, architraved doorpiece on the piano nobile (main floor), which is topped with a traceried fanlight. The door and windows are all corniced. The second-floor windows mirror those at the basement level. The ends of the building are quoined.

The west elevation is three bays wide. The basement has a small, central sash window. The first floor features a central window, a larger window to the left, and a blocked window to the right. The second floor has a blind window in the centre, with larger windows flanking it on both sides. All windows have dressed, raised margins. A large, coursed stone wallhead stack with a cornice sits centrally above the eaves.

The south elevation also features three bays, with steps leading down to a central cellar entrance door, which is plain with a rectangular window above. A blind opening is situated to the right. The basement, first and second floors each have windows, the first-floor ones being taller than the others. Shallow, decorative cast-iron balconies are attached to the first-floor windows. An additional window is located between the centre and left bays on the first floor. A port hole opening is positioned to the right of the centre bay at ground floor level.

The east elevation presents a three-bay arrangement. A narrow centre door has a four-pane window above, set within an ashlar surround. The first floor has windows to the centre and left, with one blind to the right, and all windows on the second floor are blind. A chimney stack matches the style of the one on the west elevation.

The roof is piended, covered in grey slates, and features a prominent bowed dormer, set to the left.

The interior possesses a fine classical decorative scheme. The entrance hall features rich plaster decorations, including fluted Corinthian columns, an entablature with an architrave, a frieze adorned with pateras (roundels), and a varied decorated cornice. A vaulted ceiling displays rib, bead, and lattice mouldings. The ceiling above the 1958 staircase is a shallow dome with a key-pattern base on pendentives and lunettes, topped with a cornice. The plasterwork shows varied patterns throughout. A single room on the second floor opens onto both the north-west and south fronts. It includes a doorcase with Corinthian pilasters and an entablature, a richly decorated cornice extending into a cove, and a classical timber chimneypiece.

The boundary walls are constructed of rubble stone to the north-east and west, with wrought-iron gates at the north. Later outbuildings are situated to the south-east.